28 January 2014

Desire Lines on Værnedamsvej - Copenhagenize Fixes - Part 4

At CopenhagenizeDesign Co.we certainly trust bicycle users' abilities to ride on the safest, easiest and quickest routes. The key to our Fixes is almost always found in our observations of the Desire Lines of the bicycle users and their
behavior. We firmly believe that before redesiging the street the intersections on either end must be fixed. Here are our proposals.

Northern
intersection: Værnedamsvej
- Gammel Kongevej - Svanholmsvej

To
redesign this intersection we will use respect the Desire Lines of the bicycle users who use it. We'll propose changes to the infrastructure to maximise
the safety of the intersection and make the wayfinding more clear.

Our Desire Lines analysis shows that there are two problems caused by the
asymmetrical nature of the intersection Værnedamsvej and
Gammel Kongevej:

1.
For bicycle users leaving Værnedamsveja
usual Copenhagen Left is unnatural, causing bicycle users to make a
direct turn. This seems a safe route, but could be better
communicated to motorists.

2.
The end of the Svanholmsvej is narrow, causing a lack of space for
the waiting bicycle users.

We
propose rearrangements mostly based on the traditional painted bicycle lanes in order to organise the
intersection. Further
down at the junction between Gammel Kongvej and Alhambravej, a blue
lane has been painted on the ground to encourage cyclists to make a safe
Copenhagen Left.

Here,
on Værnedamsvej, without questioning
the classic and specific way to turn left at an intersection, we
prefer to accept the fact that bicycle users turn directly. Indeed, based on our observations, 0% of cyclists
make the two-stage turn. Moreover, we noticed that bicycle users have a
tendency not to wait on the right side on the street, since they know
that no cars can turn in the street. So they wait at the traffic
light in the middle of street ready to turn left.

In
order to improve the relation between the cars and the bikes, we
suggest to create a bike box in front of the traffic light. We're not a big fan of bike boxes, but this is one situation where it will work. Bicycle users will have the priority over the cars and will start turning
at the intersection before them. This infrastructure is not usual in
the streets of Copenhagen except at some T-intersections, but here it a way to replace the two-stage
left turn.

Regarding
the bicycle users waiting at the corner of Svanholmsvej and Gammel
Kongevej, moving the crossing back and creating a
waiting area can be a solution to make space for them. Slightly reducing the extension of the pavement at the corner is a way to find
space. But it is the one-way street, so this solution implies that a
traffic light dedicated to the bicycle users is added.

Currently, they use
the pedestrian signals on the other side of the street to figure out
when they can cross the intersection. It's a bit of a dodgy situation.
Creating a cycle track heading north to south on Svanholmsvej is
a solution. This would involve removing the car parking on the left side
of the street and it must be analysed at the scale of the district.

At
the intersection between Værnedamsvej,
Vesterbrogade, Frederiksberg Allé,
it is atypical that so many cyclists use the cross walk and the
sidewalk. We can consider this behaviour as a sign pointing out that
this intersection does not meet cyclists' needs.Actually,
the Desire Lines' observation shows that this intersection is not
at all designed for cyclists leaving Værnedamsvej.
The main issue is to design an intersection that allows the cyclists
turning right on Vesterbrogade and crossing it.To
fix this abnormality in the City of Cyclists, here are our
suggestions:

Moving
back the traffic light for the cars

Making
space for the bicycle users in front of the cars

Reducing
the width of the pedestrian crossing

Setting
up a traffic light for bikes at the end of Værnedamsvej
and another one at the end of Frederiksberg Allé. These traffic
lights will turn green for the cyclists in the same time as the
light dedicate to the cyclists on Vesterbrogade, when all the
traffic lights for the cars are red.

It's
possible to paint a blue lane on the ground between the traffic light
on Værnedamsvej
and the one on Frederiksberg Allé in order to create a clear and
official lane for the cyclists. Currently, we can not disregard the fact that 41% of the cyclists leaving Værnedamsvej
use this space.Because of the complexity of this intersection a temporary solution tested during a few months while Municipalities analyse the behaviour of the cyclists, pedestrians and car drivers may be required.

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Copenhagenize.com is the blog of Copenhagenize Design Company. Online since 2007 and highlighting the cycling life in Copenhagen and around the world.

40 years ago Copenhagen was just as car-clogged as anywhere else but now 41% of the population arriving at work or education do so on bicycles, from all over the Metro area. 55% of Copenhageners themselves use bicycles each day. They all use over 1000 km of bicycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen for their journeys. Copenhagenizing is possible anywhere.